Tomáš Polívka
This programme is quite special, as you spend two semesters of your three-year study at a partner university abroad. In my case, this is FHWS in Würzburg, Germany. In this short article, I try to describe what made me choose this field of study, as well as my experience with study abroad in general and the Double Degree Programme in particular.
I like variety
I went for the Double Degree Programme for many reasons, chief among them the valuable experience to be gained from studying abroad, nut also getting to know new people, improving my English and German, and, naturally, getting an internationally recognised academic degree once I successfully complete my Bachelor’s studies in Prague. And as if these reasons were not enough, soon after I started my studies at the new university, I realised that I was in for so much more.
Beautiful city
I first visited Würzburg during my summer holidays before my studies started, to get to know the city and its transportation system a little, to take a look at the school, and to find out where I will live. I can recommend this to anyone who considers studying abroad. You get your bearings and you will fret less, once you make the actual decision to move. Würzburg is a beautiful city located in Northern Bavaria, in the district of Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main, between Frankfurt and Nuremberk. The geographical area is known for its white wines, large vineyards, and beautiful historic towns. This is also true for Würzburg, which I became to quite like as the place of my foreign studies. It has around 130,000 residents and you can easily get anywhere even without the use of public transport. As for the entertainment, Würzburg is the perfect place for sports, culture, and nature, as well as food and wine enthusiasts.
People around me
Most of the people I’ve met so far were quite nice and friendly, both at the university and in day-to-day life. At the beginning, one of the hardest things was that I actually knew no one in Würzburg and I was all alone at a foreign university in a foreign country. Fortunately, I was not the only one feeling that way and I was quick to find good friends both among Erasmus students and among “natives”. I was also reassured by the accommodating behaviour of my teachers and of the Student Administration Office and by the operation of the university in general, which we got to know during the orientation week.
Studying at a new school
My studies in Germany were quite different from those in the Czech Republic. There were only a few subjects taught regularly each week, as I attended mostly “block seminars“, focussing on a single subject for an entire week, every day from morning to evening, while working on solo or group projects at the same time. Each subject was then completed with an exam or a presentation of my project. I have to say I was very comfortable with this kind of study, as it provided deeper understanding of the subject issue, while reducing the workload in the examinations period. Thanks to the group projects, I’ve learned to collaborate with people coming from other cultures, whose views of collaboration, subject issues, and life in general widely differed from what I was used to.
So far, I am very happy with my life and study abroad and I am looking forward to the next semester starting once the holidays are over, in which I will quite likely also do an internship in the field.
